Werner R. Heymann(1896-1961)
- Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
Werner Richard Heymann was active as a classical composer in Berlin from
1912. By the end of the decade, he also wrote songs for cabaret and
served as musical director for
Max Reinhardt from 1918 to 1919.
In films with Ufa from 1923, he initially worked as assistant to the
head of the music department Erno Rapee,
before replacing the latter in 1926. Heymann remained under contract
until 1933 as musical director and composer, scoring several classic
films for F.W. Murnau and
Fritz Lang. He also established
himself as among the foremost writers of songs for film operetta,
creating hits for popular fare like
Three from the Filling Station (1930)
and
Bombs Over Monte Carlo (1931).
Forced to flee from Nazi persecution because of his Jewish background, Heymann made his way to Hollywood via Paris and London. There, he was noted particularly for scoring two of Ernst Lubitsch's best films: Ninotchka (1939) and To Be or Not to Be (1942). Heymann returned to Germany in 1951 where he resumed writing film scores and songs for the theatre until his death in 1961.
Forced to flee from Nazi persecution because of his Jewish background, Heymann made his way to Hollywood via Paris and London. There, he was noted particularly for scoring two of Ernst Lubitsch's best films: Ninotchka (1939) and To Be or Not to Be (1942). Heymann returned to Germany in 1951 where he resumed writing film scores and songs for the theatre until his death in 1961.
